district news

THANK YOU FROM THE PTO FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Parents, thank you so much for the tremendous donations you've given to the PTO in the last few weeks. Your gifts will help the PTO support our teachers and schools and bring back the popular programs and events that bring our community together.

SPIRITWEAR THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to Amanda Smoot for all her work on BOTH Ormondale and CMS Spiritwear! If you are interested in working on spiritwear for Ormondale next year, please let us know! [email protected] 

And thank you to all staff and families who placed an order. All orders will ship directly to the shipping address indicated on the order. We hope you enjoy your new items and showing your school spirit! 

PTO FUNDRAISERS

Please consider enrolling in the following programs to benefit our PTO.

ESCRIP

Sign up for eScrip today and a % of purchases you make at participating merchants, including Bianchini’s, will go back to our school. Click here to sign up (select Portola Valley School District PTO as your school)

Already signed up? If you shop at Bianchini’s, please click here to make sure that the phone number you use for your Bianchini’s Rewards is also linked to your eScrip account: CLICK HERE 

AMAZON SMILE 

Make your Amazon purchases through Amazon Smile and help our schools! Go to smile.amazon.com and select "Portola Valley Parent Teacher Organization" as your designated organization.

ORMONDALE News

Hat Day Friday, Oct. 1

Every Friday is Ormondale Pride Friday and we encourage our students and staff to wear their Ormondale spirit wear or our school colors.  We also have one spirit day a month. 

Our first spirit day will be on Friday, October 1 and it is HAT DAY.  So, dig out your favorite hat and wear it to school.  Spirit points will be tallied and classes will be in contention for the Most Spirited Class of the 2021-22 School Year.

Safe Arrival & Departure From School

Please be sure to review the safety protocols for drop-off and pick up from Ormondale as listed in the school handbook and referenced in Ms. Hovland’s Friday Roundup from September 17.  In particular please note the following:

• Please drive slowly, be observant and if you are walking, use the crosswalks.
• Please obey directions given by staff stationed at the crosswalk and drop-off areas.
• Respect that there are many children to load and move through the line as quickly as possible.  Help our children understand the need for quick loading and unloading.  
• For safety reasons, through traffic is not allowed down Iroquois past the school office between 7:45 am and 3:15 pm.  All traffic at this point must cycle through the driveway loop in front of the school.
• Should you need to visit the front office, park your car and walk in.
• Don’t leave your car unattended along the curb.
• If you arrive at the car line early, please turn off your car engine in order to keep the classrooms free of exhaust fumes.

corte madera news

Driving/Drop off at CMS

Please make sure to slow down and follow the safety protocols when you are driving your child to school. We have multiple crossing guards- our own CMS staff- that have reported some very close calls in the crosswalks and we are concerned about student and staff safety. We have recently had the Sheriff's office come and assess the situation and monitor the area and they will continue to be out to make sure our students and staff our safe.

Please be aware of the following violations that we have witnessed in these areas recently:  

- Failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk

- Failure to make a complete stop at the stop sign (especially on the corner of Indian Crossing and Alpine as cars are leaving school)

- Speeding through a school zone

We want to make sure that students continue to be safe walking, biking, scootering to school and we have been making morning announcements to students as well about their role and responsibility in getting to school safely. 

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parent education

#ReachOut: Community Resources for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Jenny Bratton, SHD; Dr. Karen Li, SHD; Brook Pollard, StarVista; Sylvia Tang, SM County Health

Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 5:30pm – 6:30pm PDT, Online Event (Webinar)

Register: https://suicideprevention2021shd.eventbrite.com

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. In this collaborative event, San Mateo County Health, StarVista, Sequoia Healthcare District, and The Parent Venture offer community resources for youth mental health and suicide prevention.

This event will provide important information for parents/caregivers and supportive adults about suicide prevention, including warning signs, risk factors, and how to support a child/youth who is struggling.

Parents, students, educators, mental health professionals, and community members welcome! Free admission. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be available.

This presentation is sponsored by Sequoia Healthcare District, StarVista, San Mateo County Health, and The Parent Venture.

The Well-Balanced Child: Challenge Success

Portola Valley School District parents are encouraged to join us for The Well-Balanced Child, a parent education program presented by Laura Easley from Challenge Success, on October 7 at 6:00 p.m. PST.

The Portola Valley School District staff has worked with Challenge Success for several years in order to explore the latest research on student health and school engagement and to examine how students  are coping in the fast-paced,  high stakes culture that we live in today.  Today’s high-pressure culture may have unintentional effects on students that can interfere with healthy child development.  As parents, It is important that we establish practices in our families when our children are still young that buffer against these pressures and enable our children to flourish. Join us as we discuss research-based strategies for raising healthy children. We’ll explore how to encourage autonomy, cultivate resilience, and manage media use in order to decrease unhealthy stress that may later lead to disengagement in school, or physical or mental health symptoms.

This virtual workshop is open to all Portola Valley School District parents grades TK-8.

https://stanford.zoom.us/j/91705067699?pwd=UFZkR0dnZXhWVTM2dlBIMlJlV3hqQT09

Passcode: 912467 

community news

All community news is posted on the pto website 

HERE ARE THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS!   

For details, click the orange Community News button below and scroll through the listings.​

1. PV Live Revive - Zotts to Tots, Town Picnic & Special Concert - Volunteers Needed!
   
2. Enroll in "Girls on the Run," a fun running program at the PV Town Center. 
3. Cub Scouts is starting up - for both boys and girls, 1st-5th grade!   
4. Can you be a volunteer literacy tutor for underserved Redwood City middle schoolers? 
5. Fall theater classes at Portola Valley Theater Conservatory (PVTC).​

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